Scooter Lifestyle

The Shed, Issue 31, April 2008 Soon to hit the streets is a new book out by Ian Grainger, or as most of you know him, Iggy from Scootering. Those of you who have never heard of him should not be in our scene!! Over the past few years you would have seen Iggy around at rallies clicking away with the camera ... now you know why.The book itself is published by Veloce Publishing Ltd and is available in paperback only with 128 pages and over 200 color pics ranging from the early eighties to the present date ... so you may be in there!!Right the book itself ... I loved the raw edge of the pages giving it a posh scrap book feel and you even get a tea cup stain to go with it! It starts off with 'The Wonder Years' giving you an insight to how Iggy got involved in the scooter scene in the early eighties, thru to Disc 85 and his first scoot '50 Special'. Even mentions the riots of IOW and the grief down at Margate! This then leads on to the 'Scooter Boys Through the 80Ts' which takes you through the smart Mods to the scruffy Psychobilly Scooter Boys (yes we all went thru it!) with the grass skirts and tatty rat bikes. Some really good pics from these early times that do bring back memories. In this chapter you also get a bit of info on VFM and how it all started for those of you who did not know. Nik from SBW gives a good write up.We then move on to the 'Twilight Years' of the 90T's which were a bit quiet after all the hassle in Margate in 92. Not a lot really happening in this bit of the book. Then we get to 'The Dawn of a New Era' which brings us up to date from the turn of the century (wow that sounds old !) This part of the book along with the next chapter IOW will interest a lot of the 'born agains' who have got back into the scene over the past few years. Lots of great pics from 'HiH' to 'Vegas' to Strictly Scooters and of course the Nationals.... Oh and The Shed Rallies even get a few pics a Cheers mate!! The IOW pages see some fine photography from Modded up scoots to Street Racers and Cut Downs. Look at page 58 and you will see what I mean! If you wanna see yaself in print these are the pages!

Review from Scootering, Issue 263, May 2008This year's latest coffee-table scooter book is titled Scooter Lifestyle and comes courtesy of one Ian 'Iggy' Grainger, a name you may recognise as one of the fairly regular contributing freelancers to 'Scootering' magazine. And coincidentally, this book follows on nicely from Mark Brough's 'Time, Trouble & Money' that I reviewed a couple of issues back in which Mark described his adventures within the scooter scene during the 1970s.Pictorially rather than text led, Scooter Lifestyle boasts over 200 colour images that cover various aspects of the scooter scene since Iggy first got bitten by the bug in the 1980s. A mixture of personal experiences (an 'Into the Sunset' if I ever I read one, being his trip to DISC 85 on a chartered coach filled with schoolmates, arriving on the Sunday as the rally was coming to a close - how dedicated we all were in our youth!), Iggy touches briefly on various aspects, describing them from his point of view, rather than going into them in detail, letting the photos lead your way through this book. At times the images may suggest that if you weren't in 'that crowd' at the time, then you missed out. Then you turn the page and see the section on the IoW for example where an assortment of images capture the variety of machines and people that this event attracts very well indeed.With a strong focus on the scene of today, the book covers local alliances and scooter racing too, as well as featuring interviews with Norrie Kerr (VE UK), Steve Foster (VFM) and Dave Porter (rally DJ). If there's a criticism it's that to an extent each section could be arguably described as narrow in subject rather than showing the broad spectrum, but with just 128 pages at his disposal Iggy was never going to be able cover the entire length and breadth of the UK's scooter scene since 1983 in this bookanyway, unless he deleted all of the pictures and used very small handwriting. Indeed he has done as he told me he'd set out to do, and that is create a coffee-table book that can be picked up and put down at will without losing the plot, yet still offer variety to entice - from the rebellious '80s with dodgy quiffs to Sunday rideouts and the modern auto scene, and all in between.So in summing up, m'lord, if you've been part of the scooter scene over the last 20 years or so then you'll know most of this already, but it's not a book that's necessarily there to teach you something new. You look at the pictures, recognise the tale, search for your own face or scooter in the background and then reminisce with your mates!

Review from Scootering, Issue 263, May 2008This year's latest coffee-table scooter book is titled Scooter Lifestyle and comes courtesy of one Ian 'Iggy' Grainger, a name you may recognise as one of the fairly regular contributing freelancers to 'Scootering' magazine. And coincidentally, this book follows on nicely from Mark Brough's 'Time, Trouble & Money' that I reviewed a couple of issues back in which Mark described his adventures within the scooter scene during the 1970s.Pictorially rather than text led, Scooter Lifestyle boasts over 200 colour images that cover various aspects of the scooter scene since Iggy first got bitten by the bug in the 1980s. A mixture of personal experiences (an 'Into the Sunset' if I ever I read one, being his trip to DISC 85 on a chartered coach filled with schoolmates, arriving on the Sunday as the rally was coming to a close - how dedicated we all were in our youth!), Iggy touches briefly on various aspects, describing them from his point of view, rather than going into them in detail, letting the photos lead your way through this book. At times the images may suggest that if you weren't in 'that crowd' at the time, then you missed out. Then you turn the page and see the section on the IoW for example where an assortment of images capture the variety of machines and people that this event attracts very well indeed.With a strong focus on the scene of today, the book covers local alliances and scooter racing too, as well as featuring interviews with Norrie Kerr (VE UK), Steve Foster (VFM) and Dave Porter (rally DJ). If there's a criticism it's that to an extent each section could be arguably described as narrow in subject rather than showing the broad spectrum, but with just 128 pages at his disposal Iggy was never going to be able cover the entire length and breadth of the UK's scooter scene since 1983 in this bookanyway, unless he deleted all of the pictures and used very small handwriting. Indeed he has done as he told me he'd set out to do, and that is create a coffee-table book that can be picked up and put down at will without losing the plot, yet still offer variety to entice - from the rebellious '80s with dodgy quiffs to Sunday rideouts and the modern auto scene, and all in between.So in summing up, m'lord, if you've been part of the scooter scene over the last 20 years or so then you'll know most of this already, but it's not a book that's necessarily there to teach you something new. You look at the pictures, recognise the tale, search for your own face or scooter in the background and then reminisce with your mates!

The Shed, Issue 31, April 2008 Soon to hit the streets is a new book out by Ian Grainger, or as most of you know him, Iggy from Scootering. Those of you who have never heard of him should not be in our scene!! Over the past few years you would have seen Iggy around at rallies clicking away with the camera ... now you know why.The book itself is published by Veloce Publishing Ltd and is available in paperback only with 128 pages and over 200 color pics ranging from the early eighties to the present date ... so you may be in there!!Right the book itself ... I loved the raw edge of the pages giving it a posh scrap book feel and you even get a tea cup stain to go with it! It starts off with 'The Wonder Years' giving you an insight to how Iggy got involved in the scooter scene in the early eighties, thru to Disc 85 and his first scoot '50 Special'. Even mentions the riots of IOW and the grief down at Margate! This then leads on to the 'Scooter Boys Through the 80Ts' which takes you through the smart Mods to the scruffy Psychobilly Scooter Boys (yes we all went thru it!) with the grass skirts and tatty rat bikes. Some really good pics from these early times that do bring back memories. In this chapter you also get a bit of info on VFM and how it all started for those of you who did not know. Nik from SBW gives a good write up.We then move on to the 'Twilight Years' of the 90T's which were a bit quiet after all the hassle in Margate in 92. Not a lot really happening in this bit of the book. Then we get to 'The Dawn of a New Era' which brings us up to date from the turn of the century (wow that sounds old !) This part of the book along with the next chapter IOW will interest a lot of the 'born agains' who have got back into the scene over the past few years. Lots of great pics from 'HiH' to 'Vegas' to Strictly Scooters and of course the Nationals.... Oh and The Shed Rallies even get a few pics - Cheers mate!! The IOW pages see some fine photography from Modded up scoots to Street Racers and Cut Downs. Look at page 58 and you will see what I mean! If you wanna see yaself in print these are the pages!

Review from Twist & Go, April 2008You'll all know Iggy's name. He's been a regular contributor to this and to other scooter magazines for years. Well, he's just written his first book called 'Scooter Lifestyle'. The title tells you what it is all about - the scooter scene; it's well written, drawing on his personal experiences from his early days as a spotty teenager. It's not specifically about autos, but is well worth a read.